Generally, an ice-making tray is an apparatus in which ice is made from water by exposure to cold air in a freezing device. In particular, an ice making tray, which stores water in a specific container and makes the stored water into ice by freezing the stored water below the freezing point, is generally used in a refrigerator, a water purifier or vending machine, and an icemaker (hereinafter, referred to as a “refrigerator and so forth”).
In the past, a simply configured ice making process, in which an ice-making container filled with water is placed in a freezing chamber below the freezing point and ice is inconveniently taken out of the ice-making container by a user after ice is made, was generally used. However, as living standards rise and technologies develop, more and more refrigerators have automatic icemakers.
Ice making trays are largely classified into thermal icemaking trays and twist icemaking trays according to the type of ice release. The thermal type generally has a heater installed adjacent to the tray to melt and separate ice therefrom, and the twist type is a type in which ice is released by twisting the ice-making tray without using a heater.
A pulse-electrothermal icemaking tray releases ice by applying a brief pulse of electric current through the tray to melt an interface layer and release the ice.
Application of electric current to an icemaking tray can, however, pose risk to users if users are permitted easy access to the icemaking trays.
However, as the ice making tray installed in the icemaker chills water not by itself but by cold air supplied, the ice making tray installed in the icemaker must have a cold air inlet port for sufficiently supplying cold air because cold air must be sufficiently supplied into the ice making tray installed in the icemaker.
Also, an ice outlet must be provided so that ice can be discharged from the icemaker.